Information has been slowly leaking out about the latest in a long line of Star Trek shows, Picard, but there is one tidbit that fans would love to get details on that has remained hidden from us: whether or not any other cast members from Star Trek: The Next Generation will also show up.
Now, former cast member LeVar Burton is saying it seems all but guaranteed. When he was asked recently if fans can look forward to a reunion between Jean-Luc Picard and any of his old friends when he returns to the small screen, Burton replied:
Each of us, I would say certainly, right? It is unreasonable to assume that he doesn't know those people anymore, or that he stopped talking to them. And if he did there's good storytelling in why.
OK, so this is in no way a confirmation that LeVar Burton will get the chance to reprise his role as chief engineer Geordi La Forge, but he did appear to be pretty confident that it makes sense for Picard to keep in touch with the old gang. Even though Picard won't be in Starfleet anymore by the time his show begins, he and his old crew went through a lot together, and someone as stalwart as him would hardly just lose touch with people he survived life and death situations with on multiple occasions.
Unless, of course, something happened, and the mysterious reason why Picard left his long-time career behind also led him to distance himself from his friends as he hid out at the family winery with his dog. As LeVar Burton said when he spoke to CNN, that would still make for some good storytelling, and it could also still lead to some TNG guest appearances.
Shortly after it was announced that CBS All Access was interested in expanding the Star Trek universe beyond Discovery, TNG castmates Burton, Patrick Stewart, Michael Dorn, Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden and Brent Spiner reunited for a nice dinner. Of course, these two things together sparked hopes that an actual filmed reunion would occur.
While Wil Weaton confirmed that he would say yes if asked to come back for the show, so far the closest we've gotten to a confirmation from anyone that some old favorites might show up is a Twitter tease from Jonathan Frakes. He posted a photo of a trombone, the instrument his character, Riker, was fond of playing, and captioned it "My next project...," so he might be doing something other than just directing a few episodes.
For his part, LeVar Burton is clearly excited by the prospect of getting to dust Geordi La Forge off again, but he does caution fans against hoping for an episode that will feature all or most of the main TNG cast, at least right off the bat.
Are you gonna see all of us together, again, in a scene or episode? I don't know. There's a lot of paper that needs to be papered, before we get there.
Star Trek: Picard is set to hit CBS All Access by the end of the year, so we'll likely know before long if LeVar Burton or anyone else from The Next Generation will show up. You can stay tuned to CinemaBlend and we'll keep you up to date on all the details as they become available!
